By the way: can anyone tell me why it is always women's issues that are so taboo? As a woman, I am getting a little tired of it. The Muslims are as obsessed with the place of women in society as the Catholics are with sex in general. Me thinks the followers of Islam are a just a tad defensive on the subject.

Slightly off the subject,I am somewhat in favor of making it more difficult for people to get licenses but this sexism makes no sense. Let's look at this logically shall we? We want women to create life but we forbide them to drive. We want you to manage the house but not drive to the market/store to replenish the home with food or bedding or other such neccessities. Muslims are kooky...

Yes, Saudi is the only place that puts these types of stringent restrictions on women. Only Afghanistan can compete. And Waahabism is the most fundamentalist forms of Islam. It is important to remember this.

My point was that Muslims all over the Arab world find themselves discussing women's issue as if they are taboo. It becomes very contentious. And the reason is that there is a lively feminist movement in the Arab world and many female Islamic scholars are defending Islam. As a religion, Islam is very fair to women. It is the interpretation of Islam, largely by men who want to protect their social status that is unfair. It is evidence of their own insecurity.

One of the most contentious issues at the time of the Prophet was the role and position of women in the early faith community. What Mohammad was attempting to do was unify nomadic, pagan tribes under the umbrella of Islam. And the tribes had some interesting notions about women and their place. Women were booty. And they were a sign of power and wealth. They more women in your tribe, the stronger you were. It was about survival and populating the community.

Mohammad challenged these notions. His wives were liberated and powerful. Under Mohammad, women were given the right to inherit. This meant that they could become wealthy and independent and powerful. This threatened the tribal structure as it had evolved at that time. At the end of his life, Mohammad gave into political pressures, and caved on some of the women's issues, especially the veil. And when the wars of succession in the Islamic community were fought, Fatima, one of the Prophet's youngest wives took up arms and led in the war to put Ali at the head of the community. If you really are interested in reading about this, a good book is "The Veil and the Male Elite" By Fatima Mernissi.

But Siddharthwolf mentions that women are supposed be in charge of creating life. Well, men play a fundamental role as well. We all agree, that you need a balance in order for the community to be sustained. Without men, there is no creation. And I hesitate to say this because I realize it may be provocative: but in patriarchal societies, Machismo is a serious display of insecurity. So they work to repress. Nothing new there. Religion is just another way to control people. Christans do it just as well, as we have said time and again on this blog.

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